


Burgers and Shakes

by PrepSchoolAda



Series: DE Art Fest 2020 [29]
Category: Detroit Evolution - Fandom, Detroit: Become Human
Genre: #DEArtFest, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, DE Art Fest, DEArtfest, Gen, High School, Inspired by Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution Fan Film, Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution Fan Film, Trapped In A Closet, stuck in a closet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25033882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrepSchoolAda/pseuds/PrepSchoolAda
Summary: DE Art Fest Day 29 - Stuck in a ClosetTina Chen is a high school student who seriously isn't ready to come out as a lesbian, so when rumours begin to surface, she turns to her best friend and closest confidante Gavin Reed for help.
Relationships: Tina Chen & Gavin Reed
Series: DE Art Fest 2020 [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799098
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	Burgers and Shakes

**Author's Note:**

> tina and gavin friendship shenanigans!!!! literally the lesbian and her dumbass white dude best friend is my favourite cliche ever 
> 
> though this time the lesbian is the dumbass kinda

“T, are you sure you wanna go through with this?” said Gavin as he and his best friend Tina approached the home of one Sophie Parker, whose parents were away for the evening so therefore her only option was to throw a giant gauzy party and invite their entire high school class.

“Yes, please, please don’t back out now,” said Tina, grabbing his arm with wide, desperate eyes. The rumours had been getting worse, and no matter how true they may be, she wasn’t ready to come out. That was something she would do when she was ready and not a moment sooner.

Gavin bit his lip, considering his next words. “You know, if you were gonna pull this off with anyone, I’m surprised you picked me.”

Tina’s eyebrows knitted together. “You’re my best friend.”

“Yeah, well, not a lot of people at this school think I’m into girls. It might not be as believable with me.”

Tina shook her head slightly, confused. “But you came out as pan? That was big for you?”

Gavin shrugged. “They still think I’m gay. Whatever, I tried.”

Tina gritted her teeth. “Assholes. See, this is why I don’t want them getting into my business.”

Tina could not possibly put into words how tired she was of her generation claiming to be progressive because they could be around gay people and not pass out from shock, while simultaneously taking part in all sorts of LGBT community infighting. It was exhausting, and she wanted no part in the discourse.

When Gavin and Tina got inside, they felt immediately uncomfortable. This wasn’t their scene. They weren’t unpopular by any means, nor did they feel they were too good for house parties or anything similar. It just wasn’t the kind of thing the two of them liked to do together. Usually at this time on a Saturday they’d be closing down the laser tag place.

However, tonight they had a plan. By the time Gavin and Tina left tonight, everyone would be convinced they were about to have the hottest one-night stand of all time. It was perfect; neither wanted to commit to a fake relationship, but Tina was desperate to put the rumours of her Sapphism to rest, at least for a little while until she was ready. This was the compromise that they'd reached together.

“Hold my hand,” said Tina through gritted teeth as she smiled at her peers once they'd entered. Gavin obliged.

“Your hand’s sweaty and gross, T.”

“You’re sweaty and gross.”

Tina and Gavin spent a majority of the party playing beer pong, attempting to dance and making even more pitiful attempts to understand how soccer worked than usual. Whatever, it was sweaty men playing with balls. Tina couldn’t see the appeal, really.

Then, inspiration struck: Sophie suggested playing ‘7 Minutes in Heaven’ in her bedroom and using the wardrobe as a space. Gavin had been about to point out that they weren’t in the early 2000s anymore and he had no intention of going back to that era when Tina stopped him.

“Wait, this is perfect,” hissed Tina. “We have to do it.”

“Um, T, I don’t think that’s a very good idea…” said Gavin sheepishly.

“Oh, come on, we wouldn’t have to _do_ anything, we’d just hang out until time’s up!” whispered Tina frantically. “Please?! It’s 7 minutes.”

“Bold of you to assume I can be around you for 7 whole minutes.”

Tina usually would have returned this banter, but she just kept staring at him pleadingly. God damn, she was really terrified of what would happen if people kept thinking she was gay.

"Okay, fine," Gavin conceded. Tina gave him a huge, adorable grin. Damn her for being adorable when she got what she wanted. It made Gavin want to do more nice things for her.

After the best acting performance of their entire lives, Sophie allowed them both to enter her wardrobe, much to the disbelief and amusement of all their peers. When Gavin and Tina got in, they could feel everyone staring at them through the door.

“Dude, thank you so much,” whispered Tina. “Now we just gotta kill 7 minutes.”

Gavin pulled out two 3DS consoles. “Ha, you think I’m coming to a party without video games?”

“You have mine too?”

“Thought you’d need it.”

Tina beamed, switching hers on. “Are you ready to _die_?”

“Not as ready as I am to wreck you!”

So Gavin and Tina spent 7 minutes playing Pokemon together (they never had time to finish their game but Tina insisted years later that she had it in the bag anyway), which in their world was very much 7 minutes of heaven. The space was a little confined, but the company was great. Even when Gavin wiped out Tina's Garchomp, leading her to look him in the eyes with a mighty rage and slowly drag a finger across her neck.

There was a knock at the door before Tina’s Kadabra could deal the finishing blow on Gavin’s Machoke.

“Come on, lovebirds, get out of there!”

Sophie’s voice had always been a little grating, and now it was even more so. She sounded almost boastful, like their fake affair had been her idea and her supposed scheme had paid off.

Tina groaned as she shut down her 3DS. “Why is Sophie like this?”

“Societal pressure, probably.”

“Damn, Gav.”

Gavin took Tina’s hand. “Alright, when we get out there, let me do the talking.”

Tina inhaled. “Okay. Got it.”

Gavin and Tina were barely three steps out the wardrobe door when it happened.

“THAT WAS SUCH A HETEROSEXUAL TIME!” squealed Tina, her face deadly serious. Gavin all but dragged her out of Sophie’s bedroom after the words had tumbled out of her mouth.

He stared at her in bemusement once they were outside the door. “That was such a heterosexual time?!”

Tina’s eyes widened as her shoulders met her ears. “I panicked!”

Gavin massaged his temples. “It’s fine. We’re fine. I think they bought it.”

“So on Monday we’re going to have to pretend to everyone that asked that we…” Tina couldn’t finish it.

“It’s cool, you don’t have to say it,” said Gavin in a strained voice. “Wanna get out of here? It’s too damn loud.”

Tina grimaced. “Burgers and shakes?”

She’d read Gavin’s mind once again. “ _Hell_ yeah, burgers and shakes.”

*

“This could be the weirdest night we’ve ever had,” said Gavin, tucking into a quarter pounder.

Tina shrugged as she sipped her strawberry milkshake. “Meh, it probably was at first, but we have burgers and shakes now. That feels normal.”

Gavin widened his eyes briefly in agreement as he took another bite. “Fuck me, this is good.”

“Burgers and shakes are great on their own, then you put them together and it’s just… oh my God,” muttered Tina as she demolished the rest of her meal.

“I ate that embarrassingly quickly,” said Tina, reaching for her napkin. “Pretending to be straight is hungry work.”

“Right? Imagine how hungry you’d be if you were actually good at it.”

“Ugh, I hate you.”

Gavin chuckled, watching his friend clean up the table after herself. She was adorable and had a heart made of pure gold. He wished she felt safe enough to be herself, and he wished more than anything that he could make every last one of their peers be respectful of her and her orientation when she did come out. As it stood, he couldn’t promise that everything would be okay. People were still erasing his own identity, after all, and even after he’d made it crystal clear.

“Hey, thanks again,” said Tina. “I know it’s dumb to not wanna come out in the age of ‘be gay, do crime’, just every time I think about it I cringe. I just want it to be mine a little longer, you know?”

“You don’t have to explain to me, T,” said Gavin, finishing up the last of his burger. “I get it. It’s no one else’s business what you do.”

Tina half smiled. “So… do you regret coming out?”

Gavin grimaced, shaking his head. “Nah. I mean some people didn’t take it well, but I expected that. I’m happy I get to live my truth now.”

Tina nodded her head wistfully. “I hope I feel that way soon.”

“Meh, if not, I’m always here to be your fake hook-up.”

Tina smirked. “We’d have the wildest fake on-and-off relationship ever.”

"Oh, that reminds me - T, I'm fake breaking up with you."

"Fair. You're not my type," said Tina with a giggle. "So who's paying for the burgers?"

"Me. Least I can do after breaking your heart."

Tina raised an eyebrow. "Sure, Gav. I'm inconsolable."

Tina eventually did come out to her peers, and when she did, Gavin was behind her every step of the way. So were others, and there were even people who were inspired to come out as sapphic because of Tina.

No matter how long it took everyone to come around or realise that saying “we been knew” in response to a person coming out was deeply inappropriate, everyone could agree that they were absolutely flabbergasted to learn that Gavin and Tina had never actually hooked up. They had just been that convincing.

**Author's Note:**

> i channeled my frustrations regarding being a lesbian and therefore having like 10 different discourses to deal with into this fic, hope u enjoyed
> 
> (real talk, it was a lot of fun!! Gavin and Tina have a real good dynamic. Pure of Heart and Dumb of Ass)


End file.
